Chautauqua County Childhood Lead Poisoning Primary Prevention Program (CLPPPP)

The National Center for Healthy Housing (NCHH) has been providing technical assistance and evaluation support to the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) Childhood Lead Poisoning Primary Prevention Program (CLPPPP) since the inception of the initiative in 2007. Each of the 15 grantee programs operates within a unique local landscape that impacts the distinct challenges they face and successes they accomplish.
As a CLPPP Program grantee, the Chautauqua County CLPPPP program seeks to achieve five goals:
1. Identify housing at greatest risk of lead-based paint hazards.
2. Develop partnerships and community engagement to promote primary prevention.
3. Promote interventions to create lead-safe housing units.
4. Build lead-safe work practices (LSWP) workforce capacity.
5. Identify community resources for lead-hazard control.

Since 2008, Chautauqua County CLPPPP has worked with property owners to remove lead paint hazards from housing in the program’s target area – the city of Jamestown. Within the city, the program targets the highest-risk properties, including but not limited to homes of at-risk newborns and pregnant women, units where children with blood lead levels between 5–9 or 10–14 μg/dL reside or units adjacent to them, units with a history of children with elevated blood lead levels or other units in the same building, and vacant, foreclosed properties. The program also inspects properties because of referrals from partner or code enforcement agencies, requests from owners or tenants, and/or identification through door-to-door canvassing.

The program’s inspection protocol includes exterior and interior visual assessments and XRF (x-ray fluorescence) measurement, as well as a risk assessment. At least one wall, one window, and one door in each room are tested for lead paint using an XRF analyzer. The exterior and entryways are also tested with the XRF analyzer. If there is no interior lead paint but exterior lead paint is found, dust wipe samples are taken to determine if exterior dust is entering the home. The program generates a report of all areas that tested positive and sends it to the owner and/or tenant with a letter of notice and information. Inspectors also give residents educational materials and incentive packages to encourage cooperation.

Lead paint dust created during renovation work can substantially increase children’s exposure to lead. The program works to address this problem by training landlords, homeowners, and contractors in lead-safe work practices. This training focuses on reducing the amount of dust generated during paint-disturbing work, containing any dust generated, and thoroughly cleaning the jobsite after work to remove any lead-contaminated dust.